Autonomous systems, such as vehicles, drones, robotics, security, mapping, among others, need to view the world in 3D. Scanning Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) is the 3D sensor for self-driving cars. The current Lidar is unreliable, bulky and high cost. Lidar can also be used to make high-resolution maps and provides dynamic field of view.
Solid state Lidar uses chips and does not include moving parts and thus has high reliability. The solid state Lidar also uses low power, and small packages, and is able to use low cost CMOS fabrication technique. The solid state Lidar can have mass production. However, there still remains a need to develop techniques to produce solid-state Lidar.